From DREAMs to ARMS: Florida Rep. Pushes Military-Only DREAM Act

Republican Congressman David Rivera last week filed the Adjusted Residency for Military Service (ARMS) Act, H.R. 3823, that will provide undocumented immigrants who entered this country as children a path to legalization if they join the military.

“If these young people are willing to die for America, then certainly they deserve a chance at life in America,” Rivera said in a statement.

“Currently, long-term United States residents who entered this country as children, and who do not have a legal status, cannot enlist in the United States military.

The Adjusted Residency for Military Service, or ARMS, Act would give them the opportunity to serve in the United States Armed Forces and earn legal status in America,” Rivera went on to say in a statement.

Rivera’s ARMS Act comes after both leading GOP presidential hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney said they would support a version of the DREAM Act if it only included the military component.

“In recent days undocumented youth I’ve spoken with have asked why it is that the only way they can serve the country they’ve grown up in is by joining the military. Undocumented youth argue that they are fully capable of serving the country in many other ways,” Colorlines.com immigration reporter Julianne Hing said after Gingrich made his nuanced statement about the DREAM Act.

Gingrich avoided the draft and has not served in the military. Romney, did not serve in the military but did serve the Mormon Church on a 30-month mission to France.